Composition Creativity Catastrophe…

A lot of artists look back on their old works and shun them, wishing they could be erased from their memory. I envy those people.

Back when I first started composing for Rokkit, I didn’t know as much about music theory as I do now (not to say I’m an expert or anything). I didn’t have as good a grasp on the software and could only do simple stuff. Some songs didn’t have a bassline or whatever… But as a result, the overall melody had to be stronger, more unique. Now, I finally know how to adjust the volume and reverb through envelopes, I have all the necessary tracks, and I understand the instruments better… my songs sound more “complete”, they’re more pleasing on the ears. But the melody seems to suffer. I can no longer listen to my music and say, “that sounds like Rokkit music.” Some tracks are starting  to sound more generic. The rest give me a sort of “deja vu” feeling; they sound as if they came from other games. 

For instance, take this track I whipped up this morning. It’s supposed to be for the second level of the game, the Islands stage:

Notice how it sounds a lot like it belongs in Wario Land: Shake It? I have a feeling I may have even subconsciously reproduced parts from songs in the game… I never intended this! Is this just a phase all composers go through, or am I actually losing my originality? I desperately want to get out of this rut, get back to the kind of compositions I had when I was relatively inexperienced… But I don’t know how…